You'd think, because Kent Matthes led the nation in home runs, that Tuesday's Major League Baseball Draft would be old hat to him. You'd think, like most big-time prospects, that the Alabama right fielder and cleanup hitter would have been drafted at least twice by the time he's a senior.

"Nope," Matthes said. "This year, I just put it all together. Now, I'm ready to take the next step."

In high school, Matthes told scouts he wanted to go to Alabama, so they didn't draft him. He even joked that if he had to do it again, he would've at least told teams he wanted to go pro so they would've drafted him, and then he could've gone to UA anyway. And as a junior, he just didn't have a tremendous year.

So, after hitting 28 home runs, Matthes finds himself in the odd position of being a senior All-American ready to be drafted for the first time. In a breakout season that helped UA reach the Clemson Regional -- and with baseball facing several performance-enhancing drug scandals -- it meant some questions and suspicions like most home run hitters face.

No matter that Matthes has not been linked to any steroids or anything like that. Allow Matthes to explain:

"That's just the era we live in now," Matthes said. "You know, unfortunately, a guy like me who just had this big jump happen, people from other teams -- if they don't know me personally -- would say (to teammates), `Is he on steroids or whatever?' And of course, everybody on the team is, like `No. Just look at him.' I'm tall and lanky. If you go work out with me in the weight room, I'm nothing special. I'm totally average."

No scouts have asked Matthes that, though they all ask what the big difference is for him from last year to this year. That's what he'll tell teams if they do ask. True, he doesn't come close to looking like a guy who would be on anything. He looks, well, normal.

Matthes said he has no worries, regardless.

"In baseball, when (performances) like this happens, you have an asterisk by it," Matthes continued. "People start asking questions. But fortunately, I've never done anything close to that, and I can hit and play with a clean conscience."